How to Stay Focused For Longer

How to Stay Focused For Longer

Interruptions really are bad for our ability to sustain focus. It's not just about the distraction that occurs for a minute or five minutes when we're interrupted, it's also about the additional time to get those brain circuits to re-engage to a mode of focus ~ AH

You know when you're so focused and something pops up out of nowhere. You hear a knock on the door, a phone call, a message on Slack. It's not just annoying, it also decreases productivity

When someone (or something) interrupts, you get out of your 'zone'. Your context switches. The attention you're putting on the task shifts to the interruption. So you need a lot of time/effort to redirect your focus back (up to 15 minutes).

Ideally, you eliminate all distractions. But that's not reasonable for most of us. We have phones, parents, kids, pets, etc. We want to focus on the work but don't want to shut them out. So, here are things you can do:

1. When someone barges in, respond but don't tilt your body towards them. This nudges your brain/body to stay focused on the task and doesn't dismiss the other person.

2. Tell people beforehand. A simple: "hey, I want to focus for the next few hours, do you mind letting me stay alone?"

3. Turn on airplane mode. You may be the person who doesn't like making people wait or worried about an emergency. It's okay, things will be okay if you respond 1-2 hours later.
   ​More Andrew ideas: hide in a closet, scream "no!" upon interruption, use an open/closed sign.

Recommended action:

Notice who interrupts you most during work (ex. boss, friend, family member). And, if possible, tell them "I can't be reached for a few hours because I need to focus". They'll respect that - hopefully.

If necessary, try other methods (don't tilt body, sit in closet, use airplane mode, scream no, etc.).

When you do these, you'll notice you can sustain deep work for much longer. Anyway, sorry for interrupting your daily email check! Please head back to work :)

Here's a clip of Andrew explaining all these in the Workspace episode.
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